Women, physicality and the outdoors: A story of strength and fragility in a kayaking identity

For many women, engaging in physically active pursuits in the outdoors can help them to gain a sense of empowerment and a positive sense of their own physical identity. But bodily self-confidence for women is often fragile and contradictory and can be disrupted by the events that take place over the life course. Risks or disruptions to the physical body such as injury also threaten the sense of self, particularly if there is high investment in the identity. This chapter examines relationships between body and identity through key turning points in one woman’s kayaking career. The chapter uses key life experiences to explore a sense of developing a physical identity, risk and healthy physicality, and disruption due to injury.